Prince rolls out hits, covers at rare U.S. fest gig

PALM DESERT, California (Billboard) - In a rare U.S.
festival appearance, Prince closed the second night of the
Coachella festival Saturday, dusting off golden oldies like
"1999" and "Little Red Corvette," and covering tunes by the
Beatles and Radiohead.

Prince took the stage at the Empire Polo Field in Indio
nearly 30 minutes behind schedule, declaring: "Coachella, I am
here." Playing well past midnight, he also thrilled fans with
"Let's Go Crazy" and "Purple Rain," among others.

After collaborations with Morris Day ("Jungle Love") and
Sheila E ("Glamorous Life"), he ventured into covers of
Radiohead's "Creep" and the Beatles' "Come Together."

Prince, who had been a rumored Coachella headliner for
several years, has just one other date on his upcoming
schedule: a June 16 show at Dublin's Croke Park. He was a late
addition to the Coachella lineup, and was reportedly paid about
$4.8 million to bolster a lineup viewed as relatively
uninspired by Coachella veterans.

Earlier in the evening, rock act Death Cab For Cutie laid
the groundwork for Prince's appearance. Toward the end of the
band's set, lead singer Ben Gibbard joked with the audience,
asking, "Are you guys excited for Prince? He'll be arriving
soon in his purple helicopter." Death Cab tested new songs from
its upcoming album "Narrow Stairs," due May 13, including "I
Will Possess Your Heart." The group also played older cuts
"Soul Meets Body," "the New Year" and Why You'd Want to Live
Here."

Warming the stage for Prince as the 100-degree Fahrenheit
(38 degrees Celsius) weather cooled, Portishead didn't fail to
set the mood its with eerie trip-hop. The reunited Britain act
used Coachella as the launch pad for "Third," its first studio
album in more than a decade. The band previewed new song
"Machine Gun," as well as older material "Sour Times" and
"Wandering Stars" from its 1994 debut album "Dummy."

Other noteworthy performances on day two came from German
electronic act Kraftwerk, which turned out "Autobahn" and
"Computer Love" on the main stage; bass-heavy Brazilian electro
rock act Bonde do Role, who brought the party to the Gobi tent
with the catchy "Marina Gasolina"; indie rock act MGMT, playing
spacey material from its debut album "Oracular Spectacular";
and U.K. producer-of-the-moment Mark Ronson, who recruited a
number of artists (including Kaiser Chiefs vocalist Ricky
Wilson) to help round out his set at the Outdoor Theatre.